CLEVELAND -- In front of a crowd used to seeing LeBron James dominate opponents at Quicken Loans Arena, New Orleans Hornets rookie shooting guard Marcus Thornton upstaged the reigning league MVP and current scoring leader Tuesday night.

Tony Dejak / The Associated PressHornets rookie Marcus Thornton scored a franchise-record 23 points in the second period on his way to a career-high 37 against Cleveland on Tuesday night, but the Cavaliers were able to come back and snap a three-game losing streak with a 105-95 victory.Thornton set a franchise record with a 23-point second quarter before finishing with a game- and career-high 37 on 15-of-22 shooting. Despite his career night, Thornton still ended up on the losing end as the Cleveland Cavaliers closed out the fourth quarter with a flurry to defeat the Hornets 105-95 before 20,562.

The loss snapped New Orleans' two-game winning streak. The Hornets (30-27) entered trailing the Portland Trail Blazers by a game for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Cleveland ended a three-game losing streak.

"I was saying before the game that this might be a good night, " Thornton said. "Coaches were telling me before the game that I was going to get a lot of shots in transition because the team doesn't get back well. I just took advantage of it early and the shots were going down. But I would have liked to had a W."

It did not happen because the Hornets made just two shots from the field after the score was tied at 89 with 4:37 remaining. Thornton led the Hornets with nine points in the fourth quarter, but his final basket came with 7:06 remaining to give the Hornets an 87-85 lead.

Thornton's biggest impact came when it appeared the Hornets were headed for a lopsided defeat after trailing by 12 at the end of the first quarter. He came off the bench in place of starter Morris Peterson and promptly made his first five shots, and he scored 16 of the Hornets' first 18 points in the second quarter.

Thornton attacked from the perimeter, especially on kick-out plays when point guard Darren Collison got him the ball quickly. Besides his perimeter shooting, Thornton was quick off the dribble, beating Cavaliers backup guard Delonte West several times on the baseline.

Even James -- who scored 20 points, 10 less than his average, tried to limit Thornton, but like his supporting cast only had limited success.

Thornton's point total is the second most by a rookie this season. Milwaukee guard Brandon Jennings scored 55 against Golden State in November. The Hornets play the Bucks tonight at the Bradley Center to conclude their two-game road trip.

Thornton is the first second-round draft pick to score 37 points in a regular-season game since former Miami Heat guard Sherman Douglas in 1990, and his point total is the fourth highest by a rookie off the bench since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976.

"He's nice, a great kid, " said Cavaliers center Shaquille O'Neal, a former standout at LSU like Thornton, who was the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year last season before entering the draft. "I watched him play a couple of times. He's doing well. He reminds me of a (former LSU guard) Maurice Williams."

O'Neal, who scored 20 points, watched Thornton almost single-handily lift the Hornets to a 56-53 halftime lead. Thornton made 10 of 13 shots in the second quarter, and his final basket of the period came on a layup to give New Orleans a 50-48 lead with 1:46 remaining before halftime.

"We weren't as physical on him as we should have been, " Cavaliers Coach Mike Brown said. "He's quick, can shoot the 3 and can get to the rim. Defensively, we have to continue to be consistent for 48 minutes. Right now, we're not."

The Hornets obtained Thornton in a draft-night trade with the Miami Heat, which selected him in the second round. Thornton did not emerge until Bower took over for fired former coach Byron Scott.

After Devin Brown was traded to the Chicago Bulls last month, Thornton became a starter. After starting six consecutive games, Thornton injured his lower back in a Feb. 3 game against Oklahoma City and was forced to sit out three games that led to veteran Morris Peterson moving into the starting lineup.

But after Tuesday night's performance, Thornton is likely to move back into the starting spot. Thornton was aggressive coming off screens, and when the Cavaliers started coming with traps involving Anderson Varejao, Delonte West and even O'Neal, he quickly put up shots.

The Hornets' rookie backcourt that includes Collison, who is filling in for three-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul, combined for 59 points. Collison scored 22 points and had 10 assists.

"We wanted to exploit the pick-and-roll matchup and definitely get up and down and get some easy baskets, " Hornets Coach Jeff Bower said. "He (Thornton) did a nice job balancing his perimeter shot with putting it on the floor to get to the rim on drives.

"The thing we talked about going into the game was that we wanted to be aggressive and wanted to be confident. We wanted to take the action to our opponent. I thought particularly in the second quarter we did that."

Behind Thornton, the Hornets made 70.8 percent of their shots in the second quarter and outscored the Cavaliers 40-25.

"He played extremely well, " James said. "When you're in a zone, you hate to be on the losing end. He's a really good scorer and we got some stops on him at the end. He had a couple of turnovers and Delonte got a block on him, and that really helped us."

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John Reid can be reached at jreid@timespicayune.com or at 504.826-3407.